Proposed Adoptive Parents

DPP-199 (R 11/05) 922KAR1:010 Commonwealth of Kentucky Department for Community Based Services

INDEPENDENT ADOPTION HOME STUDY OUTLINE

PROPOSED ADOPTIVE PARENTS

Name: Address: City/ Zip: County: DSS#:

I. RECEIVING PARENTS - HOME AND FAMILY BACKGROUND

A. INTERVIEWS AND HOME VISITS

1. List the dates and places of your face-to-face interviews and home visits with the proposed receiving parents.

2. Did you give an interpretation of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ role in both agency and independent adoptions?

3. Did you inform the prospective adopters that in an independent adoption a child cannot be in their physical care, custody, or control prior to receiving the written approval from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services for the placement? Describe their plans for an interim placement.

4. If the prospective adopters have previously applied to an independent adoption agency, did you obtain their permission and contact the agency for a copy of any previous home evaluation or other available information? Attach copies.

B. MOTIVATION FOR INDEPENDENT ADOPTION

1. State the reason the prospective adoptive parents give for wishing to pursue an independent adoption and your evaluation as to the sincerity and validity of their motivation.

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of 7 2. Can the applicants physically have children? If not, how do they feel about their childlessness or infertility? How have they worked through this?

3. Why are the applicants seeking to receive a child independently rather than through an agency?

C. DESCRIPTION OF PROSPECTIVE ADOPTIVE PARENTS

1. Give a brief physical description of the applicants.

2. Give a brief description of the home.

3. Is their home adequate to meet the needs of an additional child?

D. STANDARD OF LIVING

1. Describe the applicants’ standard of living and management of income.

2. Will they become financially stressed by adopting a child?

E. EXPERIENCE WITH CHILDREN

1. Discuss the proposed adopter’s feelings regarding parent-child relationships including their own childhood experiences and experience with children they have known.

2. Discuss the prospective adopter’s parenting experiences with their biological children. Include in your discussion a description of their interaction with any biological children from a prior marriage or relationship.

F. DISCIPLINE

1. What is the prospective adoptive parents’ attitude toward and planned method of discipline?

2. If they plan to use physical punishment, document that you held a discussion with the proposed adopters regarding the Department for Community Based Services’ philosophy against the use of corporal punishment.

of 7 3. Discuss the prospective adopter’s parenting experiences with their biological children. Include in your discussion a description of their interaction with any biological children from a prior marriage or relationship.

G. UNDERSTANDING OF ADOPTION

1. How do the proposed adoptive parents feel about adoption and why was adoption chosen as a parenting alternative?

2. Do they feel they can parent a child born to someone else?

3. How do they plan to tell the child of his or her adoption?

H. ABILITY TO PARENT

1. In your opinion are the prospective adoptive parents physically and emotionally able to parent an adopted child? Were any concerns noted on their DPP-l07? Please address any medications/diagnoses that the proposed adoptive parent may have. Please address the proposed adoptive parent(s)’ ability to cope with their current health status.

2. If the prospective adopter has a child from a prior marriage or relationship, attempt to interview the child regarding his/her relationship with the adopter and feelings about the adoption planning. Try to obtain written statements from any adult children not available for interview. Adult children may not be used for references.

I. HOUSEHOLD AND FAMILY MEMBERS

1. If applicable, discuss your interview(s) with other members of the prospective adopter’s household regarding their feelings about the proposed independent adoption. Clearly identify those whom you have interviewed and their relationship to the proposed adopter. Will their feelings have a positive or negative influence on the proposed adoption?

2. How do the proposed adopter’s resident children describe their experiences with the adopter?

J. FAMILY STABILITY

Give your evaluation of the emotional stability of the family unit. Include the prospective adopters’ date of marriage, information regarding any history of divorce or marital separation and discussion regarding the stability of their present relationship.

K. RECORDS SEARCH

of 7 1. Did the applicants answer affirmatively to any of the four questions on page 4 of the DPP-l90, or did their district court record search reveal a history of a fine/conviction for violation of any law?

2. If yes, give a full explanation of the circumstances as obtained from a face-to-face interview with the applicant. Provide documentation of follow-up with appropriate law enforcement personnel. Did you request any applicable probation/parole officers, counselors or their therapists to provide written details of their history with the applicants, as well as their recommendations for the applicants as adoptive parents? Attach any responses received. If the applicants have ever been accused of child or spouse abuse/neglect, attach a copy of the report and worker’s documentation of the findings.

L. REFERENCES

If any of the two non-relative personal references, one relative personal reference, or two financial references were conducted by telephone or in person, give their specific comments about the applicants and document the date the contact was made. If they responded by mail, attach their letter.

M. OTHER INFORMATION

Please provide any additional, pertinent information regarding the proposed adoptive parents.

II. RECEIVING PARENTS - PROPOSED PLACEMENT INFORMATION

A. PLACEMENT ARRANGEMENTS

1. Why do the applicants wish to receive this particular child?

2. How did they learn about this child? Give specific names of the persons arranging the placement and their relationship to the applicants or the biological parents. What are the circumstance and arrangements surrounding the placement?

3. What financial or other remuneration arrangements have been made? What are the specific items for which the receiving parents are responsible and the estimated cost for each of these items? If they are not presently aware of the estimated costs, have they given money to anyone to be held in an escrow account? If so, to whom and what amount?

B. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Please provide any additional, pertinent information regarding the placement arrangements and the proposed receiving parents.

III. BIOLOGICAL PARENTS

of 7 A. If this section is being completed by a worker other than the one who completed the investigation pertaining to the proposed receiving parents, please provide your name, office address, and sign and date in the space below.

Interviewer’s Name ______

Office Address ______

______

Signature & Date______

List the date and place of your face-to-face interview with the biological mother, biological father, legal or putative father if applicable. If you were unsuccessful in obtaining an interview with any of these parties, give a full explanation of what attempts were made, including dates and the reasons these attempts were fruitless. In those instances where biological parents cannot be located, secure social history and background information on the biological parents from any available source. Diligent attempts must be made to interview all parties. These attempts should be thoroughly documented.

B. During your interview with the respective parent, did you:

1. Explain that the Cabinet is mandated by law to determine whether the proposed adoptive parents are suitable to receive the child and that the Department for Community Based Services is not managing the adoptive placement of the child with the applicants? ___Yes ___ No

2. Explain that biological parents can change their minds about agreeing to the adoption until their rights have been terminated by circuit court action which may happen in a separate action before the applicants petition the court to adopt the child, or as part of the court’s action on the adoption petition, but the Cabinet cannot represent the biological parents in a legal action? ___Yes ___ No

3. Confirm that the child cannot enter the home of the proposed adoptive parents without the Cabinet’s written approval, and if the biological parents are not desirous of caring for the child in the interim, a neutral placement must be arranged? ___ Yes ___ No

4. Explain that if the applicants are found to be unsuitable and the application denied, the biological parents are responsible for making other arrangements unless a termination of parental rights had already occurred at the time of denial? __ Yes ___ No

5. Explain the legal risks posed to the adoption if the biological mother refuses to provide the biological father’s, putative father’s or legal father’s name and current whereabouts? ___ Yes ___No

C. PLACEMENT ARRANGEMENTS

of 7 1. Are the independent adoption plans for the child being made voluntarily on the part of the biological, legal, and/or putative parent, or does it appear that they have been coerced into planning the placement for the child?

2. How did the biological, legal, and/or putative parents learn of the receiving parents? What financial or other remuneration arrangements were made with them? Be specific regarding the nature and value of the items and services being provided to the biological parents. Give the names and the relationship to the biological parent of the parties arranging the placement.

3. Is the biological, legal, and/or putative parent aware and accepting of the religious, ethnic, and racial background of the proposed adoptive parent(s)? If not, explain why.

4. Did you explain and ask the biological legal, and/or putative parent(s) to complete a DPP-l92, Biological Parent’s Statement Regarding Future Contact or Inspection of Records? If the form is completed, attach appropriate Central Office copies. If not completed, explain why.

D. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

1. Did you give the parent an explanation of the need for background information and the confidential nature of the information? Does the biological parent understand the Department for Community Based Services is mandated by law to gather background information for the court’s and agency’s adoption record and that prior to finalization of the adoption to share pertinent non- identifying health and background information with the adoptive family?

2. Did you review the DPP-l9l with the parent to be certain they understood the questions and information sought? Did the parent have any questions or concerns? If the DPP-l9ls are not attached for the respective parents, please indicate why.

E. PLACING PARENT REFUSAL TO BE INTERVIEWED

If the biological parent(s) were located but refused to be interviewed, did you explain that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services may deny the application if the custodial parent refuses a face-to face interview with the appropriate Kentucky or out-of-state agency representative? What was their response?

F. OTHER AVAILABLE INFORMATION

of 7 Please provide any additional, pertinent information regarding the placing parents.

IV. THE CHILD

A. CURRENT CAREGIVER

Provide the name and address of the child’s current caregiver. What is this person’s relationship to the child?

B. WORKER’S OBSERVATION OF THE CHILD

1. Document the date and circumstances of your visit to observe the child. Include any concerns you might have.

2. If the child is old enough to be interviewed, include information about him/her and his/her feelings about the adoption planning.

3. Document what contact the adoptive parents and biological parents have had with the child in the neutral setting.

V. EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATION

A. Worker’s Evaluation

B. Worker’s Recommendation

Completed by: ______

Date: ______

Supervisor: ______

Date: ______